Warm UK weather set to continue

Britons are set to enjoy another day of unseasonably warm weather after temperatures reached a new record.

PUBLISHED: 06:34, Tue, Mar 27, 2012

Daffodils on display in Helmsley, North Yorkshire, as the fine spring weather continues [PA]

Britons are set to enjoy another day of unseasonably warm weather after temperatures reached a new record.

Monday was the warmest March 26 on record - with the mercury hitting 22.9C (73.2F) in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire - and forecasters are predicting more of the same.

Lindsay Dovey, of MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "(Tuesday) will be dry and sunny, with clear blue skies across the whole of the UK. Temperatures will be similar to yesterday and we could see another 22C (71.6F) in Aberdeenshire."

The hottest March 27 was in 1926 when 22.8C (73.04F) was noted in West Witton, North Yorkshire, while the highest recorded temperature in March was 25C (77F), most recently seen on March 29, 1968.

Other places in Aberdeenshire also enjoyed unseasonably warm temperatures yesterday, with Aviemore registering 22.3C (72.1F) and Braemar 22C (71.6F). They were warmer than more southerly parts of Europe such as Barcelona, Nice, Majorca and Faro.

South of the border Otterbourne in Hampshire was the warmest place at 21.4C (70.5F), followed by Porthmadog in Wales at 21.1C (69.9F). Central London enjoyed temperatures of 19C (66.2F).

The resort of Weybourne, Norfolk, was one of the few places to experience average temperatures for the time of year with a low of 9.5C (49.1F). Manston in Kent also followed the trend for cooler weather on the South East coast with a temperature of 12.1 C (52.8F).

Such temperatures are predicted to continue on Wednesday, with a drop starting in the north on Thursday.

Ms Dovey said: "(Wednesday) will be dry and sunny again, but there will be some cloud in northernmost Scotland, as well as patchy drizzle. That cloud will start to move further south. By Thursday much of northern and western Scotland will have drizzle but everywhere else will be dry and fine.

"Friday will be cloudy across northernmost and western Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of north-west England and most of North Wales. Saturday is when temperatures will really start to drop. We're looking at 9C (48.2F) to 12C (53.6F) across most of the UK."